Odd tops No. 2

The Stags Head

The Stags Head in Fowler Street, South Shields, is the second in the series of “odd tops” which show the town’s history. As you can see the building was completed 111 years ago as the town expanded away from it’s small centre around the Market Place and the river.

This is certainly the smallest public house in South Shields with (originally) one room downstairs and one room upstairs, along with a traditional cellar. A smaller room was added at a later date to the rear of the ground floor.

A Photoshop action has been used to create the tint and tone effect, which I hope shows off the golden coloured stags head to good effect.

Camera details; Pentax K100D, 82mm lens, 1/90second, f5.6, iso 200

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The Old Ship

The Mounting Stone

The Old Ship Inn on Sunderland Road, South Shields is reputed to be one of the oldest public houses in the town. The original building which stood here was a coaching inn on the road between Westoe and Sunderland, a place to rest, water, or change horses on a longer journey.

A couple of days ago I advised readers to look up to see the history of your town and it’s buildings, well, there’s an exception to every rule as this picture shows. If you are not carefull you might trip over a large object!

This, so custom tells us, is an old “mounting stone” placed there to make it easier to get into the saddle. So now you know.

Camera details; Pentax K100D, 28mm lens, 1/75 second, f8.0, iso 200

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Purple patch

First signs of spring?

King George Road, South Shields, grey morning but the temperatures are starting to improve. After a couple of weeks of harsh frosts we can look forward to balmy temperatures in the range of five to nine Celsius each day!

I’m not sure if this batch of crocus is showing it’s head a little early this year or if this the normal time for them to appear, it feels a little early.

Camera details; Pentax K100D, 28mm lens, 1/60 second, f22, iso 200, mini tripod.

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Feeling sleepy

South Shields Daily Cat

It’s been almost a year since Tiffany last posed for a South Shields Daily Photo, but today she has been caught unaware after a nice long snooze on the couch, so she’s still a little sleepy. Since being rehoused after a tough time with her previous owner she has come on leaps and bounds with us and is very content to stroll around the house and sit on a window sill to watch the world go by.

She’s sitting next to the fridge now, a sure sign that she’s hungry again!

Camera details; Pentax K100D, 82mm lens, 1/60 second, f5.6, iso 200, flash fired.

Odd tops No. 1

The Cyprus

I’ll make this the start of a series of “odd tops” and then perhaps we’ll see more people walking around with their noses in the air! Seriously, we all get to recognise the way around our towns and cities by a recognition of shop windows, gardens, pavement, road signs, and whatever else is at eye level. How many of us bother to look up overhead to often see the history of our towns? We tend to re-use many buildings and change everything that is visible at ground and first floor level and (thankfully) leave the rest untouched.

The Cyprus Hotel (pub) in Chichester Road has stood there since 1902 - 106 years of serving up traditional ales to a traditional clientelle. It’s main rooms have been altered a number of times but it’s exterior has remained virtually untouched in all of those years. Here we see very ornate architecture with huge dormer windows, a castellated tower, and a green copper onion shaped dome.

Camera details, Pentax K100D, 82mm lens, 1/250 second, f11.0, iso 200

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